Oar rest



United States Patent Ofice 3,500,483 Patented Mar. 17, 1970 3,500,483 OAR REST Wilhelmina Schohn, 231 N. Kenilworth, Oak Park, Ill. 60302 Filed Nov. 19, 1968, Ser. No. 777,080 Int. Cl. B361) 17/00 US. C]. 9-1 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An oar rest having a base plate attachable to the exterior surface of a rowboat and connected by a hinge to a curved bracket member which is pivotable' about the hinge from an operative oar-supporting position outside of the boat to a non-operative, non-obstructive position on the top of the sidewall of the boat.

This invention relates generally to boating and more particularly to a device for attachment to the exterior walls of a rowboat to support the oars when such oars are not in use while preventing water accumulated on the oars from entering the boat. The device of the present invention has the further characteristic of being neatly and unobtrusively folded over the sidewall of the boat when not in use so that it provides minimal obstruction and thus hazard to the clothing of the occupants of the boat.

A great irritation to users of rowboats has long been the need to bring idle wet oars inside the boat, as when fishing a certain area or the like, whereupon the water accumulated upon the oars drips into the bottom of the boat and causes occupants shoes, clothing and equipment to become wet and uncomfortable.

There have been, from time to time, efforts expended toward providing a solution to this problem but none of the known designs succeed in providing a satisfactory solution without creating new and equally vexatious irritations.

For example, Scheckel in US. Patent No. 2,476,11 designed an oar rest which contributed greatly to solving the problem of dripping water but in doing so he created a major obstruction on the interior of the boat upon which occupants could scarcely avoid snagging their clothing as they moved to the rear of the boat. Scheckels device further sufiered from the need to mount the device on the top edge surface of the gunwale where not infre- I quently the grain was split and the boat permanently damaged.

Next Brancel in US. Patent No. 2,671,232 attempted to advance the art of Scheckel, supra, by providing a hanger which was mounted on the exterior surface of the boat and had a hook which could be rotated from a position adjacent to a position normal to the boats exterior surface for use. And while Brancels design did essentially solve the problem of torn clothing and bruised shins, it was not convenient when the boat was used by a single oarsman because of the need to walk to the rear of the boat to effect each adjustment before they could be used. Nor could Brancels hangers be rendered operative at the pier for the hooks then became impedi ments to travel as they protruded beyond the boat.

The present invention is predicated upon my discovery of a novel oar lock design which obtains all of the desirable qualities of the prior art structures whilesubstantially eliminating all of the various disadvantages prior Structures have inherently possessed.

Accordingly, it is a prime object of the present invention to provide an improved oar rest for installation upon a rowboat and which can readily be placed in operative position by an oarsman without leaving his seat and which, when in use, prevents any accumulated water on the oars from entering the boat.

Another object of the present invention is to provide an improved oar rest which can be easily and permanently installed upon the exterior wall of a boat for use, readily pivoted into and out of its operative position, and which, when in its non-operative position, is substantially completely out of the way of occupants of the boat and provlildes substantially no hazard to occupants clothing or s ms.

Still a further object of the present invention is to provide an oar rest which is economical to manufacture, easy to install, and which obtains a substantially long life by virtue of its ability to avoid needless and unnecessary abuse encountered by the larger more cumbersome devices of the prior art.

These and still further objects as shall hereinafter appear are readily fulfilled by the present invention in a totally unexpected fashion as will be readily discerned from a careful consideration of the following detailed description of exemplary embodiments thereof, especially when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

In the drawings, in which like parts bear like numerals throughout the several views;

FIG. 1 is an isometric showing of a boat having devices embodying the present invention mounted operatively thereupon;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary section of a device embodying the present invention mounted for operation;

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary section of the device of FIG. 2 pivoted into an at rest" position; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section taken along line IVIV of FIG. 2.

Referring now to the embodiment of the drawings, FIG. 1 shows a rowboat 11 which may be made of wood, fiber glass, aluminum or like materials, having a pair of oars 12 operatively attached to the gunwales 13 thereof by means of oar locks 14. The oars 12 are pivoted in the locks 14 to propel the boat 11 in the fashion customary of such boats.

Adjacent each oar lock 14 in spaced relationship thereto and secured to the outer surface 15 of gunwale 13 for coaction with lock 14 is oar rest 16 which shall now be described.

As is especially well shown in FIGS. 2, 3 and 4, oar rest .16 comprises a support plate 20 adapted to be suitably rigidly secured, as :by the use of screws 21 passing through openings 22 or by bolts or clamps (not shown), to the outer surface 15 of gunwale 13 in close proximity to the upper edge 23 thereof. Plate 20 further comprises, at the upper portion thereof, first and second cylindrical portions 24, 25, respectively, which portions are disposed in spaced relationship to and axial alignment with each other and in overlaying superimposed relationship to the adjacent portion of edge 23.

Bracket member 26 is strategically formed to define a generally U-shaped structure having substantially parallel arm portions 27, 28 interconnected by a curved intermediate portion 29.

At that end of arm portion 27 remote from intermediate portion 29, is provided a cylindrical portion 30 extending outwardly from the plane of arm portion 27 and especially designed to permit its operative insertion be tween portions 24, 25 in registered axial alignment with the openings therethrough to receive an elongated rod member 31 therein. Rod member 31 is a length sufficient to hingedly connect cylindrical portions 24, 25 and 30 whereupon bracket member 26 is hingedly connected to plate 20.

As shown, arm 28 is disposed in substantially parallel relationship to arm27 and spaced therefrom a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the handle 32 of oar l2 whereupon the cooperating portion of oar 12 readily nests upon intermediate portion 29 and is held thereby when it is desired to rest the oar;

The tip portion 33 of arm 28 is bent slightly outwardly as shown in FIG. 4 for reasons which shall become apparent from the following description of the operation of my device.

Thus assembled, bracket member 26 is pivoted about rod member 31 into the operative position shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 4 and into the unobtrusive, non-hazardous inoperative position shown in FIG. 3.

When in itsjoperative position, arm 27 of the bracket member 26 coacts with and engages outer surface 15 of gunwale 13 to further support the at-rest oar disposed therewithin.

When it is desired to place the rest in its inoperative position, bracket member 26 is pivoted on rod member 31 until tip portion 33 engages the inner surface 34 of gunwale 13 and lays substantially flat therewith with no sharp projecting portions exposed thereby.

While theforegoing description of structure and opera- 1 tablished between arms 27, 28 and cause tip portion 33 a to bind 'uponigunwale surface 34 when the bracket. is in its inoperative position.

From the foregoing, it becomes apparent that I have herein described and illustrated a new and novel oar rest which, when operative in association with a companion oar lock, realizes all of the benefits of the prior art structures while eliminating all of the disadvantages inherent therein; and, as such, readily fulfills all of the aforestated objectives in a totally unexpected manner. It is, of course,

understood that such adaptations, modifications and alter- 1 ations as may readily occur to one having the skills of this art when confronted with this disclosure are included within the spiritof this invention.

Accordingly, what I claim is:

1. An oar rest for attachment to the outer surface of the gunwale of a boat and operative in association with an oar lock to support an oar, said rest comprising: a base plate adapted for attachment to the outer surface of on an upper portion thereof having first and second cylindrical portions, said cylindrical portions being disposed in axially aligned-spaced relationship to each other and disposable in overlaying superimposed relationship to the upper edge of the gunwale; a "generally U-shaped bracket member having a pair of substantially parallel arm portions and a curved intermediate portion operatively interposed therebetwecn, one of said arm portions having a cylindrical portion at one end thereof and extending outwardly from the plane thereof, saidcylindrical portion being adapted for insertion between said first and second cylindrical portions of said base plate for registered axial alignment therewith; and an elongated rod member insertable-into said axially aligned cylindrical portions to hingedly' connect said bracket member and said base plate, said bracket member being pivotable about said rod member between an operative portion wherein said one of said arm portions is engageable with the outer surface of the gunwale.- of the boat to an inoperative position wherein the other of said arm portion is engageable with the inner surface of the gunwale of the boat.

2. An oar rest according to claim 1 wherein said other of said arm portions has a tip portion tapered outwardly therefrom at an angle complementary to the engageable surface of the gunwale when said bracket is disposed in its inoperative position.

3. An oar rest according to claim 2 in which said bracket member is resiliently biased and said tip portion is tightly engageable with said gunwale and lies substantially flat thereagainst, having no sharp projecting portions exposed thereby.

4. An oar rest according to claim 3 in which said bracket member is formed of tempered spring steel.

5. An oar rest according to claim 1 in which said bracket member is pivotal from operative to inoperative position relative to the gunwale of a boat about an axis disposed at the outer surface of the gunwale and superimposed to the upper edge thereof.

I References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,476,116 7/1949 Scheckel 9-1 2,734,206 2/1956 John 91 2,885,696 5/1959 Sauer 91 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner J. E. PETTENGER, Assistant Examiner r US. Cl. X.R. 248-294 

